Abortion debate hits new low in Missouri

Monday

Apr 26, 2010 at 12:01 AMApr 26, 2010 at 1:00 PM

Editor, the Tribune: As a pro-choice individual, I thought I had heard it all. But this past month the anti-choice discourse hit a new low. As an intern at the state Capitol, I had a front-row seat for the recent abortion debate.

In the middle of usual discourse, Reps. Brian Nieves and Bryan Pratt began asserting that opposition to HB1327 and 2000, anti-abortion bills, equals support for rape. The billís premise was based on the assumption that women are incapable of understanding what takes place during an abortion. Nothing in the bill put measures into place that would actually reduce abortions. The fact that these devastating crimes were being maliciously exploited to further their political agendas and personal ideologies left me speechless.

Listening to somebody tell me that my opposition to this bill somehow means I wish to protect the men who abused me, I suddenly understood how it felt to be silenced by my government.